Where does your SBO username come from???

Kermit · Dec 20, 2014

I've been wanting to start this very thread for several months now. Great minds think alike!

When I first joined in 2010, I had never heard of SBO. I found y'all through a google search for information on Hunter sailboats. Not knowing anything about y'all, my First Mate and I weren't sure if using real names was a good idea or not. She suggested Kermit since he is my Main Frog. Yes, I really do think a lot of that frog. I get all teary-eyed at the end of "The Muppet Movie" everytime I watch it. (I actually took a date to see it when it first came out in 1979. Needless to say, she wasn't impressed and dumped me soon afterwards.) I think I admire him as much as I do because his legs are so much meatier than mine. Plus, we all know it's not easy being green.

My avatar comes from "Muppet Treasure Island." I made my children go see it with me when it came out in 1996. My son was 13 at the time. Halfway through the movie he leaned over and said, "Dad, this is nothing like the book." Ah, youth.

I've since learned that SBO is one fantastic place. But more than the place, it's the people that make it great. I've learned at least something from just about every post I've read. Please take the time to thank Phil and the whole crew here for providing such a great resource. I'm sure we have no idea the investment he has made and continues to make for us. And he provides it at no charge.

And one more shout-out goes to Crazy Dave Condon. He donates his own time to reply to threads and help in anyway he can. He has become a true friend to me and probably other folks as well. I hope he will tell everyone where his nickname came from. It's a great story.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Jimmy Wood
Sumter, SC

kito · Dec 20, 2014

Kito is my Red Belly Parrot's name. I got him from a family that their child was allergic to him so they gave him to me. I thought he was sick when I first got him since he kept sneezing all the time. I finally figured out that he was just mimicking the kid sneezing.

Kermit · Dec 20, 2014

Jackdaw said:
Mine is the name of the boat I owned when I signed up for several forums, and now I always use it everywhere. For a long time, I've named my boats after birds with attitude. Jackdaw, Kestrel, BlueJ, etc. Like Jackdaw.

Thanks for this explanation. I've been a bird guy for a lot of years and had never heard of the jackdaw. Sounds like a great little bird! TGFG!

31seahorse · Dec 20, 2014

Interesting topic! I hope we don't give away too many trade secrets.

Seahorse was the first cruising boat that we spent significant time working on at our home. We had her trucked to our home and spent from September to May getting her into shape. The boat's name at the time of purchase was Aquavit, a name our daughter had to explain to us. At that time in her life our daughter was riding with the 4-H and the Pony Club so we were torn between the horses and sailing. Seahorse seemed an appropriate name to combine our two interests. She happened to be 31 feet long, hence, I am 31seahorse. Sorry, no pictures available.

Chief RA · Dec 20, 2014

Mine is obvious. I have achieved considerable success for a fork lift drivers son from Redding CA but nothing means so much to me as being a Chief Warrant Officer. The reason I say being a warrant is I am still a CWO since regular army officers are never officially retired, only placed on inactive status.
It was such an honor to have served my country as both a Sailor and Soldier.
Happy Holidays! Chief

Bad Obsession · Dec 20, 2014

Bad Obsession is a name I have used twice. I had an O'day 17 daysailor when I was younger. I then used it for my Hunter 22, the boat that I had when I first got here. The name actually comes from a Guns and Roses song...LOL. Don't listen to that around anyone that gets offended easily.

Second boat was the Catalina 30 named Spirit of Liberty. I loved her a lot and the name was done by the previous owner. I named my dingy Justice since when I was going somewhere I had Liberty and Justice.

Current boat is a Compac 23 named Saga. Saga is very fitting as it is the next boat in the Saga of my sailing habit. Also, my ancestry has some Norse heritage. Sagas were the name of the Viking Tales. The name that Saga had when I bought her was Aimless. Not a bad name, but I wanted a new one.

JRacer · Dec 20, 2014

Until 3 years ago, when I bought the Beneteau First 310, I raced J/24's for the previous 30 years. JRacer is also my Auto license plate.

LANCE ON CLOUD NINE · Dec 20, 2014

Lance is my actual name, and my O'Day 23 is called Cloud Nine. I named her that as a tribute to the focus my late father put into setting a world speed record in his inboard hydroplane, also called Cloud Nine. It will remain the name of any boat that might ever replace it. Happy Holidays to all of you! - who I have learned so much from. Thank you.

Sailm8 · Dec 20, 2014

Mine is from a personalized license plate I had up north. I wanted Ahoym8 but someone had it so sailm8 was my next choice.

Benny17441 · Dec 20, 2014

Nothing wrong with my own name; the number was added by the forum.

Chief RA · Dec 20, 2014

Lance: What a great tribute to your father! I had the privilege to race off road motocross motorcycles with both sons for many years. They were: Cal state champion and #3 N.Cal.. My most famous motorcycle was a Yamaha TT500 and I still have her and her name is "Boss Hog". She is a 4 stroke we ran against 2 strokes in the 1980's and has won so many trophys with all of us racing her we do not know how many trophys she has won! Happy Holidays, Chief

woodster · Dec 20, 2014

mine is from doing wood working and art shows over the years along with being a factory rep for a wood working machinery mfg and teaching wood-turning ...also because my name is Woody (really its Woodrow but i would not answer you if you called me that its on my birth certificate and my parents always called me woody) i used to catch hell when i was in my preteens Woody Wood Pecker they would say and i would get so mad but as i grew older i learned to capitalize on it and have had a lot of fun doing so ...i think the first time some one called me woodster was a friend of mine in sales and it stuck to this day and it is ironic because i was trained in Iron work and steel erection and did that for about 30 years when i turned directions and so now its Woodster

Ken Cross · Dec 20, 2014

My mom gave it to me and it is a tribute to my dad (I'm a Jr._

Maine Sail · Dec 20, 2014

I live in Maine, I sail...

Also, when I race I am often the main sail trimmer...

Chief RA · Dec 20, 2014

Maine Sail: You have never been so brief in all your life! What, no pictures, diagrams? Happy Holidays! Chief

MetricMountie · Dec 20, 2014

The Metricmountie name comes from my service in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Mounties as most Canadians refer to the Force. When I joined I just made the height requirement of 5'8" most guys in my training troop were taller with their Id's indicating a triple digit height. When we switched to the metric measurement system my ID then had a triple digit height of 178cm. A good friend and sometimes work partner joked one night at coffee that I had now grown to a triple digit ID as a Metric Mountie. It stuck and many retired members still joke about it at veterans gatherings.

quadrille38 · Dec 20, 2014

Here it's the boats name and her length.

DAVA390 · Dec 20, 2014

Dava390 is my email and user name for most all of the multiple places we need such these days. Way back at the dawn of my internet use (1994?),I tried to set up email as"dave but the computer kicked it out as taken. 390 refers to a Berreta 390 shotgun I had just received for Christmas. I am a clay target shooter.